CWA survey: average broadband speed in US is 1.9Mbps

Data provided by the Communication Workers of America shows that the "average …

Broadband speeds in the US are abysmal compared to the offerings from other developed countries, according to the Communication Workers of America. The organization conducted its own download/upload speed tests online, which were taken by roughly 67,000 people across the country, and concluded that the average download speed in the US was 1.9Mbps. According to CWA president Larry Cohen, "the results are deeply troubling."

Various states appear to have much higher averages than others. For example, Illinois appears to be just above the national average at 2.1Mbps down, with New York's average at 3.4Mbps and California's at 1.5Mbps. Rhode Island appeared to have the fastest average download speed, according to CWA's data, at 5.0Mbps, with Kansas coming in second with an average of 4.1Mbps.

The data, says the CWA, is in in stark contrast to broadband speeds available in other countries. The organization compared its own survey data to numbers provided by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation's "Assessing Broadband in America" (PDF) report, which showed that countries such as Japan and even our closest neighbor of Canada have significantly higher broadband download speeds—61Mbps and 7.6Mbps, respectively.

Data source: Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

However, the CWA's data conflicts with that of the ITIF report. ITIF claims that the average broadband speed in the US is 4.8Mbps—still lower than Canada, many western European countries, Japan, and Korea—but more than twice as fast as CWA's numbers. In fact, Cohen himself doesn't exactly claim that the CWA's data is valid. "While we don't claim that the results are scientific, we do believe this is the first national survey of Internet upload and download speeds," Cohen said in his testimony to the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. "I should point out that most people who took our speed test either use DSL or a cable modem."

Most? Those comments don't exactly instill large amounts of confidence in the CWA's numbers. The organization did not specify exactly how many of the 67,000 test-takers used dial-up.

Despite this difference, the ITIF and CWA are in agreement: the US is falling behind in broadband speeds. Cohen said that the CWA supports a draft bill—the Broadband Census of America Act—that would require the FCC to upgrade its definition of "high speed" to a minimum of 2Mbps down and 1Mbps up. In theory, this would then provide some motivation for broadband providers who don't meet the technical definition of "high speed" to bump their offerings to consumers.

The sad truth is that broadband connections of any speed can still be hard to come by in some parts of the country. The US consistently ranks relatively low in comparison with the rest of the world in both broadband availability and speeds. We also consistently pay more for our slower connections than those in other countries. As long as the government continues to make decisions that seem to work against consumers in this area—for example, not requiring cable and DSL providers to share their lines—Americans will continue to be stuck with subpar broadband speeds and prices.